Page 51 of The Wolf's Kidnapped Mate

But no matter how hard I tried to silence my crying, it didn’t work. It seemed to just make it worse until I was a choking, snotty mess pressing my palms into my poor eyeballs. During my crying fit, I didn’t hear the water stop. I didn’t hear the bathroom door squeak open or the light thump of footsteps approaching me.

I did feel the cool arm wrap around my shoulders. I felt the smooth plane of muscle, the corded arms, the wet flesh, and the soaked tendrils of hair tickling my neck.

Evergreen filled my nostrils. It was a soothing scent that reminded me of pine, of fresh snow, of crisp winter nights spent around a decorated tree. Faded melodies played in the back of my mind, accompanied by the gentle ringing of bells. Church bells, maybe. That was in a memory somewhere. That was lodged in my brain.

Rough fingers strung through my hair, pulling it occasionally from still being wet. Even though the shower was probably cool, Fred felt warm at his center. He felt warm and real. He was the only thing keeping me tethered to this world while I fought against my memories in that moment, against the terrible beat of those feet marching in the street.

I hiccupped. “It was snowing that year. We were just walking around town to see the lights.”

Fred settled next to me, his knee coming into view wearing black sweats. I saw his leg extend toward the fireplace, but ultimately kept my head down, kept focusing on the blurry image of his inked forearm as his fingers curled into my hair to cradle me.

“Dad was worried about those people dressed in black coming into the square. It was like, really late at night, way past our bedtimes,” I continued. “Mom said she would take us back home.”

With my ear to his chest, I could hear his heart, feel his heat, and listen to the steady rush of air entering and leaving his lungs.

“Liam didn’t want to go home. He wanted to keep walking around,” I explained with a slight lilt to my voice. I swallowedagainst a new wave of tears. “But you know, I convinced him not to sneak out.”

Fred stroked my hair off of my forehead. It was such a useless thing to do because it just kept falling right back into place. But the more he did it, the more I felt safe. The more I felt like I could face what I was feeling.

I took a shaky breath. “The phone call woke us up. You know that, I think. You remember Liam telling you about it.”

“I do.”

“That was back when you broke free from the foster system.”

He snorted. “They actually kicked me out on my eighteenth, but same thing, I guess.”

“Liam said to pack my things. We were going to leave real quietly.”

“And he brought you to me.”

I nodded while clutching his shoulders. My back was starting to ache from the position, but I couldn’t let him go. “He trusted you back then. He trusts you now.”

“Do you trust me?”

“I don’t have a choice.”

He pushed me into a sitting position and cupped my face, sweeping away errant tears with his thumbs. He looked into my eyes, forcing me to face the very reality I wanted so much to avoid.

I watched the way his lips parted with the question this time, the way his expression barely changed as his eyes shimmered with worry. “Do you trust me, Kylie?”

“Liam didn’t tell me our parents were dead until we got to the foster home.”

His brows weakly twitched together. “You cried all night.”

“I felt so lost.”

“Is that what you’re feeling now?”

I wheezed as I hauled air into my lungs. The more I considered the word, the more I felt it resonate in my muscles.Lost. That was why I was sobbing so hard. Because most of the time, I just felt lost.

But with Fred, I didn’t.

And nothing scared me more than that realization.

Morning light skimmed over his face, enhancing the mint in his eyes. I witnessed the expansion of his pupils, the way his eyes seemed to round out the closer he drew. Tangled in his arms like this, it didn’t take much effort to lean into him, to try to close the gap between us. What little was left of it, anyway.

Those wonderfully soft lips brushed mine, casting away my eyesight, revealing the striking darkness of my lids as I gave in to his touch.

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